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President to Name Arab American Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services

Posted on Monday April 18, 2005

WASHINGTON – The Arab American Institute is pleased by the White House’s announcement of its forthcoming nomination of Alex M. Azar II to serve as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. HHS oversees over 300 programs and operates with a $583 billion budget. The President’s decision comes on the heels of an earlier announcement nominating Arab American Dina Habib Powell as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs working in the Department of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

As Deputy Secretary, Azar will work directly with Secretary Leavitt as the number two official in the Department. He will be responsible for policy development and operations across the breadth of the Department, while managing the Department’s relations with various government agencies and, especially, the Office of the President. Azar will also play a key role in representing the President’s health and human services agenda throughout the country and throughout the world.

“With Alex’s appointment, President Bush has once again placed an Arab American at the forefront of Administration policy formulation and implementation,” said AAI Chairman George Salem. “Health care remains one of our nation’s top domestic priorities. Alex has served with distinction as HHS General Counsel for the past four years, and is most deserving of this honor and capable of meeting the responsibilities which this position entails.”

Azar is currently HHS General Counsel and has held that position since his unanimous Senate confirmation in August 2001. As HHS General Counsel, Azar is the chief advisor for the Secretary on all legal matters concerning the department and oversees a staff of 450 attorneys. Azar played a significant role in the public health response to 9/11, response to the anthrax attacks, formulation of the Bioterrorism Prevention Act of 2001, procurement of bioterrorism countermeasures, and the smallpox vaccination program.

Other issues particularly important to Azar are medical liability, implementing Medicare modernization, prevention, infectious disease control, health information technology, and patient safety. While at HHS, Azar has assisted in efforts to reduce the number of uninsured, make generic drugs more readily available, and encourage the FDA’s initiative to promote science-based nutrition claims. Azar also personally defended the protection of medical records before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“In the aftermath of 9/11, as one of the key figures at HHS, Alex Azar worked tirelessly to make sure that public health needs were met,” said AAI President Dr. James J. Zogby. “As our nation begins to grapple with a number of health-care concerns, I am confident that Alex’s expertise and dedication to the public welfare will be critical to HHS’ future success in dealing with these challenges.”

Prior to joining the agency, Azar was a partner with the firm Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in litigation and appellate practice. Additionally, Azar served as an Associate Independent Counsel during the first two years of the Whitewater investigation under Judge Kenneth Starr.
Azar is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, where he was on the Executive Committee of the Yale Law Journal. Following law school, Azar clerked for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia for the Supreme Court of the United States.